Procurement & SCM
SMME 30-Day Payment Performance
Isolates payment timeliness specifically for small, medium and micro enterprises.
Why SMME payment timeliness is a measured obligation
Section 65 of the MFMA and Treasury Instruction Note 34 require that valid invoices be paid within 30 days, and late payment of small, medium and micro enterprises is both an irregular-practice finding and a direct cause of business failure in the supplier base. SMMEs lack the working capital to absorb delays, so their payment performance deserves to be isolated rather than buried in an organisation-wide average. AuditPro Core ringfences SMME payments so accounting officers can see and remedy the cash-flow harm they may be causing.
The Numbers
AuditPro Core renders this view from your tenant's live, tamper-evident records. The figures below are illustrative sample data.
SMME Invoices
4,210
Paid Within 30 Days
71%
▼ 6% vs large firms
Avg Days to Pay
41
▲ 4 days
Over 60 Days
318
R 9.1m owed
SMME vs Large-Firm Payment Rate %
SMME Suppliers With Longest Delays
| Supplier | Sector | Avg Days | Owed (R'000) |
|---|---|---|---|
| SMME 118 | Cleaning | 73 | 410 |
| SMME 204 | Catering | 66 | 285 |
| SMME 331 | Stationery | 61 | 192 |
| SMME 447 | Transport | 58 | 174 |
Figures shown are illustrative sample data for demonstration. AuditPro Core renders these views from your own tenant's live, tamper-evident records.
The 30-day rule
A complete and valid invoice must be settled within 30 days of receipt. The clock turns on receipt of a correct invoice, not on internal approval cycles, which removes the excuse of slow workflow.
Why SMMEs are measured separately
Larger suppliers can carry late payment; SMMEs frequently cannot. Government policy explicitly prioritises SMME cash flow, so an aggregate timeliness figure can hide a serious problem in the most vulnerable cohort.
Valid-invoice date integrity
Accurate measurement depends on a reliable invoice-receipt date. Backdating, lost invoices and disputed-receipt arguments are the usual ways the 30-day clock is gamed.
How AuditPro Core Bridges the Gap
- SMME segmentation: filters payment performance to the SMME cohort using CSD and vendor-master classification.
- Continuous monitoring: tracks days-to-pay against the 30-day deadline and alerts on breaches as they occur.
- Exception workflow: surfaces overdue SMME invoices with ageing and responsible-official attribution.
- Traceability to source: ties each measurement to the invoice-receipt date and payment record.
Key Takeaways
- The 30-day clock starts at receipt of a valid invoice, not at internal approval.
- Measure SMMEs separately; a healthy organisation-wide average can hide a stressed cohort.
- Protect the integrity of the invoice-receipt date, the most-gamed input in the calculation.
- Persistent SMME late payment is both an MFMA breach and a supplier-sustainability risk.
See This on Your Own Data
AuditPro Core renders this dashboard from your tenant's live, tamper-evident records — every figure traceable to source.